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Nigel Slater's Real Food
Nigel Slater’s classic guide to comfort food ‘Real food means big-flavoured, unpretentious cooking. Good ingredients made into something worth eating. Just nice, uncomplicated food.’ Based on Nigel Slater's absolute favourite food, whether it be The Stickiest Ever Chicken Wings or Baked Goat's Cheese and Pesto in Filo Pastry, Smoked Mackerel Dauphinoise or the classic Bacon Butty, this classic has gone a long way in at last creating a nation of food lovers. In typically unpretentious style, Nigel finds good things to make using mass produced white bread to the finest Italian loaves, or with standard English confectionery to real chocolate made from cocoa solids. With Nigel's unerring understanding of flavours, irresistible, simple recipes, and passionate lively writing, ‘REAL FOOD’ deserves its place on everyone's kitchen shelf. Nigel Slater's book 'A Cook’s Book' was a Sunday Times bestseller w/c 20-12-2021.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
11 people are currently reading
750 people want to read
About the author
Nigel Slater
82 books426 followersNigel Slater is a British food writer, journalist and broadcaster. He has written a column for The Observer Magazine for seventeen years and is the principal writer for the Observer Food Monthly supplement. Prior to this, Slater was food writer for Marie Claire for five years. He also serves as art director for his books.
Although best known for uncomplicated, comfort food recipes presented in early bestselling books such as The 30-Minute Cook and Real Cooking, as well as his engaging, memoir-like columns for The Observer, Slater became known to a wider audience with the publication of Toast: The Story of a Boy's Hunger, a moving and award-winning autobiography focused on his love of food, his childhood, his family relationships (his mother died of asthma when he was nine), and his burgeoning sexuality.
Slater has called it "the most intimate memoir that any food person has ever written". Toast was published in Britain in October 2004 and became a bestseller after it was featured on the Richard and Judy Book Club.
"I think the really interesting bits of my story was growing up with this terribly dominating dad and a mum who I loved to bits but obviously I lost very early on; and then having to fight with the woman who replaced her ... I kind of think that in a way that that was partly what attracted me to working in the food service industry, was that I finally had a family." As he told The Observer, "The last bit of the book is very foody. But that is how it was. Towards the end I finally get rid of these two people in my life I did not like [his father and stepmother, who had been the family's cleaning lady] - and to be honest I was really very jubilant - and thereafter all I wanted to do was cook."
In 1998 Slater hosted the Channel 4 series Nigel Slater's Real Food Show. He returned to TV in 2006 hosting the chat/food show A Taste of My Life for BBC One.
Slater has two elder brothers, Adrian and John. John was the child of a neighbour, and was adopted by Slater's parents before the writer was born.
He lives in the Highbury area of North London, where he maintains a kitchen garden which often features in his column.
Although best known for uncomplicated, comfort food recipes presented in early bestselling books such as The 30-Minute Cook and Real Cooking, as well as his engaging, memoir-like columns for The Observer, Slater became known to a wider audience with the publication of Toast: The Story of a Boy's Hunger, a moving and award-winning autobiography focused on his love of food, his childhood, his family relationships (his mother died of asthma when he was nine), and his burgeoning sexuality.
Slater has called it "the most intimate memoir that any food person has ever written". Toast was published in Britain in October 2004 and became a bestseller after it was featured on the Richard and Judy Book Club.
"I think the really interesting bits of my story was growing up with this terribly dominating dad and a mum who I loved to bits but obviously I lost very early on; and then having to fight with the woman who replaced her ... I kind of think that in a way that that was partly what attracted me to working in the food service industry, was that I finally had a family." As he told The Observer, "The last bit of the book is very foody. But that is how it was. Towards the end I finally get rid of these two people in my life I did not like [his father and stepmother, who had been the family's cleaning lady] - and to be honest I was really very jubilant - and thereafter all I wanted to do was cook."
In 1998 Slater hosted the Channel 4 series Nigel Slater's Real Food Show. He returned to TV in 2006 hosting the chat/food show A Taste of My Life for BBC One.
Slater has two elder brothers, Adrian and John. John was the child of a neighbour, and was adopted by Slater's parents before the writer was born.
He lives in the Highbury area of North London, where he maintains a kitchen garden which often features in his column.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
June 5, 2010
I think I'd buy a book about paint drying if Nigel Slater wrote it.
March 21, 2012
My favorite food author. Full stop.
February 5, 2023
Nigel Slater is always a pleasure - either reading & using his books or watching his many TV programmes. The food he likes to cook is the food I enjoy. Everything he says and cooks demonstrates his passion for good food simply cooked with care. This book has some great recipes which gives ideas when cooking day to day meals. The photography of the finished dishes is excellent. Not the book if you just like a slither of chicken and a little plain salad washed down with a glass of water. It's not food either for those who like to present their dishes with a lot of embellishments which adds little to the taste.
July 11, 2017
Nigel Slater's Real Food was originally published in 1998 and accompanied the television series of that name at that time. I have just discovered it, the book. I've bought the older, 1998 hardback edition (it was republished in 2014) second-hand online via an Amazon seller for the grand price of £0.01 before postage. What a find! What a bargain! The book is pristine, looks unread, and may even have been unloved by some fast food addict, but I only had to flick through the pages, then delve a little deeper into the commencing Potato section to go into a state of calory-craving salivating frenzy. Potato and Smoked Mackerel Dauphinoise. I can do that. I could do the others too. That's what I like about Nigel Slater, his recipes are doable. At least, that's one of the things I like about him.
Another thing I like about Nigel Slater is that he is an entertaining wordsmith. His cookery books are worth reading even if you never try one of the recipes. He begins:
"When I say butter, I mean unsalted, when I say salt, I mean Maldon sea salt; and when I say sugar, I mean the golden unrefined stuff from Mauritius. Pepper is ground from a mill as I need it and not, absolutely not, bought ready-ground. Oh, and when I refer to a grill pan, I mean one of those heavy ridged, cast-iron grill pans that sits on the hob..."
Nigel would be proud of me, I have ticked all those boxes before even opening his book. Could I be the next Nigel in the kitchen. A Nigella? Hardly likely, but I can aspire to it and with this book there is a chance of it.
He lures, entices, seduces with words of food.
[about potatoes] ...Perhaps it is the pleasure I get from squashing a naked, virginal steamed potato into the gravy of a lamb casserole, or that moment when the creamed potato topping of a shepherd's pie—at first crisp and furrrowed, then underneath smooth and soothing—hits my tongue. Maybe it is hearing the salty rustle of the thinnest frites round a sizzling and bloody steak. Or could it be that second when I smash open a baked potato with my fist (the only way to ensure a truly fluffed spud) and its solid white flesh turns to hot snow?"
There are plenty of recipes for vegetarians to enjoy and although I haven't quite gone over to the other side, my meat mostly comprises of fish and chicken, more fish than chicken. I'm edging towards being a piscatarian.
The book is divided into sections:
1.Potatoes
2.Chicken
3.Sausages
4.Garlic
5.Bread
6.Cheese
7.Ice-cream
8.Chocolate
Clearly, this is seriously real food. Although there isn't a fish section, which is a little disappointing, there is a place for plaice and if you go to the index at the back, you'll find a number of fish dishes there, e.g. Baked Plaice with Parmesan Crumbs comes under the Cheese section.
By the way, full page colour photographs accompany recipes so you are not left, as some cookery books leave us, wondering if the ensuing disaster on the plate is how it should have turned out.
In Real Food, half a dozen or so recipe's are not Nigel Slater's inventions and that is made clear but they deserve to be part of the book.
http://movies-and-books-world.blogspo...
Another thing I like about Nigel Slater is that he is an entertaining wordsmith. His cookery books are worth reading even if you never try one of the recipes. He begins:
"When I say butter, I mean unsalted, when I say salt, I mean Maldon sea salt; and when I say sugar, I mean the golden unrefined stuff from Mauritius. Pepper is ground from a mill as I need it and not, absolutely not, bought ready-ground. Oh, and when I refer to a grill pan, I mean one of those heavy ridged, cast-iron grill pans that sits on the hob..."
Nigel would be proud of me, I have ticked all those boxes before even opening his book. Could I be the next Nigel in the kitchen. A Nigella? Hardly likely, but I can aspire to it and with this book there is a chance of it.
He lures, entices, seduces with words of food.
[about potatoes] ...Perhaps it is the pleasure I get from squashing a naked, virginal steamed potato into the gravy of a lamb casserole, or that moment when the creamed potato topping of a shepherd's pie—at first crisp and furrrowed, then underneath smooth and soothing—hits my tongue. Maybe it is hearing the salty rustle of the thinnest frites round a sizzling and bloody steak. Or could it be that second when I smash open a baked potato with my fist (the only way to ensure a truly fluffed spud) and its solid white flesh turns to hot snow?"
There are plenty of recipes for vegetarians to enjoy and although I haven't quite gone over to the other side, my meat mostly comprises of fish and chicken, more fish than chicken. I'm edging towards being a piscatarian.
The book is divided into sections:
1.Potatoes
2.Chicken
3.Sausages
4.Garlic
5.Bread
6.Cheese
7.Ice-cream
8.Chocolate
Clearly, this is seriously real food. Although there isn't a fish section, which is a little disappointing, there is a place for plaice and if you go to the index at the back, you'll find a number of fish dishes there, e.g. Baked Plaice with Parmesan Crumbs comes under the Cheese section.
By the way, full page colour photographs accompany recipes so you are not left, as some cookery books leave us, wondering if the ensuing disaster on the plate is how it should have turned out.
In Real Food, half a dozen or so recipe's are not Nigel Slater's inventions and that is made clear but they deserve to be part of the book.
http://movies-and-books-world.blogspo...
September 27, 2012
The recipes are alright, but they seemed to me very similar to ones in other Nigel recipe books (from both before and after this one was published). The concept is comfort food focusing on 8 different key ingredients, and the recipes are appealing, but I felt like it just wasn't as good as Real Fast Food: 350 Recipes Ready To Eat In 30 Minutes which has a similar concept but is packed full of far more recipes and variations, and less slightly sexual food writing - 'the pleasure I get from squashing a naked, virginal steamed potato' is one such corker..... If you want atmospheric, seasonal and delicious food writing, read The Kitchen Diaries: A Year in the Kitchen with Nigel Slater (which I loved) or if you want good recipes, and lots of them, read Real Fast Food, which I linked above.
April 6, 2018
I received the Real Food 2017 Book as a Christmas Present. My family know I love Nigel's recipes, always interesting and easy to follow. Think I have most of his books now.
This book gives you ideas for ingredient's you have in your fridge. You fancy something different from your usual recipes, this book has it. I had sausage in the fridge and made the sausage and potato pie, something I would have never thought about, it was lovely and the recipe for Browned onion and Madeira gravy, mouth watering.
Camembert baked in the box, always a couple's night in with crusty bread and a bottle of wine over a film.
Chicory I have always found it bland, but Baked Chicory with Parmesan puts it into another world. Great way to cook it.
I could go on and on ☺️
love the book, love the recipes, love the photos.
This book gives you ideas for ingredient's you have in your fridge. You fancy something different from your usual recipes, this book has it. I had sausage in the fridge and made the sausage and potato pie, something I would have never thought about, it was lovely and the recipe for Browned onion and Madeira gravy, mouth watering.
Camembert baked in the box, always a couple's night in with crusty bread and a bottle of wine over a film.
Chicory I have always found it bland, but Baked Chicory with Parmesan puts it into another world. Great way to cook it.
I could go on and on ☺️
love the book, love the recipes, love the photos.
June 28, 2020
Some of the recipes are great and the presentation is excellent, unfortunately the style is most of the content. Too indulgent.
February 14, 2017
Real Food by Nigel Slater is the book that introduced me to food – and to the joys of a gorgeous cookbook. One of the best cookbooks ever written, a glorious harmony of recipes you want to stuff into your face and some of the best food writing available in English.
The photography is scrappy and full of blurry movement – huge zoomy closeups of melting cheese, crusts cracking, potatoes steaming, as well as moody, grainy still life photography of luscious ingredients. All swaddled in Nigel Slater’s evocative prose – relaxed, luscious, mouth-watering prose – full of joy for the endless delights of great food. Looking over the book again, twenty years after I first saw it, it makes me as hungry as ever. His food is natural, seasonal and resplendent with the kind of culinary decadence I practise in my own kitchen.
On the dinner menu tonight is an old favourite, Mushroom and potato pie – a molten pot of mashed potato, butter, milk, eggs, cheese and garlic mushrooms. His Perfect baked potato, butter-saturated Parmesan garlic bread and umami Mushroom sandwich are all highly, highly recommended. As is essentially every other recipe in the book. It is of great comfort to me – a person whose meals are also full of potato, bread, pasta, garlic, cheese, ice cream and chocolate – to see these foods cherished and celebrated.
If I had to choose a seminal cookbook. This would be it.
The photography is scrappy and full of blurry movement – huge zoomy closeups of melting cheese, crusts cracking, potatoes steaming, as well as moody, grainy still life photography of luscious ingredients. All swaddled in Nigel Slater’s evocative prose – relaxed, luscious, mouth-watering prose – full of joy for the endless delights of great food. Looking over the book again, twenty years after I first saw it, it makes me as hungry as ever. His food is natural, seasonal and resplendent with the kind of culinary decadence I practise in my own kitchen.
On the dinner menu tonight is an old favourite, Mushroom and potato pie – a molten pot of mashed potato, butter, milk, eggs, cheese and garlic mushrooms. His Perfect baked potato, butter-saturated Parmesan garlic bread and umami Mushroom sandwich are all highly, highly recommended. As is essentially every other recipe in the book. It is of great comfort to me – a person whose meals are also full of potato, bread, pasta, garlic, cheese, ice cream and chocolate – to see these foods cherished and celebrated.
If I had to choose a seminal cookbook. This would be it.
October 5, 2014
Finishing up cooking with Nigel Slater for the past six months for I Heart Cooking Clubs and this is probably the book I have cooked from the least. It's not that it isn't good but is more meat-centric than some of his other books and that isn't how I eat these days. Also, since it centers around food by type (like sausages, potatoes, ice cream, cheese, etc.) it is not as comprehensive as the other books. Still, Slater's food writing is always top-notch and the two dishes I did make were easy to put together and had great flavor making it worthy of 3.5 rounded up to 4 stars.
You can see the recipes I made and posted on my blog here:
Leek and Camembert Risotto (http://kahakaikitchen.blogspot.com/20...)
Mushroom and Spinach Korma (http://kahakaikitchen.blogspot.com/20...)
You can see the recipes I made and posted on my blog here:
Leek and Camembert Risotto (http://kahakaikitchen.blogspot.com/20...)
Mushroom and Spinach Korma (http://kahakaikitchen.blogspot.com/20...)
December 9, 2015
I just love this book. Though basically a cook book, this is such a wonderful read.
Nigel Slater picks his 8 favorite foods, and dedicates a chapter to each... and he starts each chapter with what I can only call a 'love letter' to each of these simple ingredients.
Be it the humble potato, his love of chicken, his passion for garlic etc etc... He has a way with words that evoke such nostalgic memories, such mouth-watering images and such simple pleasures - I can't think of anyone who writes about food with more skill than this.
I find his writing inspirational, but let's not forget the recipes. Comfort food at it's best and least pretentious.
Nigel Slater picks his 8 favorite foods, and dedicates a chapter to each... and he starts each chapter with what I can only call a 'love letter' to each of these simple ingredients.
Be it the humble potato, his love of chicken, his passion for garlic etc etc... He has a way with words that evoke such nostalgic memories, such mouth-watering images and such simple pleasures - I can't think of anyone who writes about food with more skill than this.
I find his writing inspirational, but let's not forget the recipes. Comfort food at it's best and least pretentious.
January 16, 2008
Even though Nigel Slater can sometimes be annoying this cookbook is simply full of delcious things to eat. And he compliments his good food with good words. The writing is eloquent and stomach-rumbling! Read this, get hungry and then go to the kitchen and cook something from it!
February 1, 2008
We've lent this book out to many people, especially those new to cooking. I love his instructions for garlic bread. Loads of butter, garlic, etc., and the note that the reader's challenge is to fit it all in the loaf. Wheee!
November 14, 2012
As a vegetarian, the limited number of focus ingredients made this a bit less useful to me. I much preferred The Kitchen Diaries, which includes a lot more casual and often meatless meals, as well as great story-telling.
January 30, 2013
Nigel Slater makes cooking and eating a pleasure with his unpretentious recipes in which his love of food is obvious and infectious. This book has had a huge influence on me, and is a wonderful addition to any kitchen bookshelf.
February 11, 2013
Except for the fact that I'm not too quick at converting metric in my head, I loved this book - great recipes, great ideas, and it is all "real" food. I also really like his commentary about each recipe and the way that it is broken into 8 of his favorite foods as chapters - clever.
January 19, 2014
Empowering in inspiring you to make simple food quickly and easily. The reason it doesn't get a 5 is that it is quite British. Lots of toast and potatoes, which sound delicious but might not be the highest on the health charts.
Read
May 17, 2009Nigel Slater's Real Food by Nigel Slater (2000)
July 19, 2009
Always love what he writes and cooks. It seems to me that he makes no efforts whatsoever to produce delicious goods!
January 2, 2011
fab recipes
Read
December 16, 2011An inspiring use of fresh and readily availble produce. I appreciate Nigel Slater's down to earth approach
April 19, 2013
What can I say? ......Nigel Slater you are are one of the best!
November 9, 2012
Entertaining language
November 4, 2012
Luscious Brit food.
June 22, 2013
One of my most used cookery books. You can tell coz the pages are mostly stuck together with all sorts of yumminess!
November 15, 2013
The sort of cookbook that gets me straight into the kitchen. Lovely stuff.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews